1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document processing apparatus for inputting, type-setting, and displaying the document information.
2. Related Background Art
In the DPI field, there are two forms of type-setting for calculating the optimum location of character within a page. One of them is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) system, to which widely used word processors correspond. This system is such a system that the document creator inputs characters in the corresponding character sizes to their corresponding locations, while seeing the final print format on a screen.
This system has the following features.
[Merits]
1 Document can be created as desired because the user can input characters while seeing the final screen. PA0 2 Excellent user interface. PA0 3 Easy creation of short document. PA0 1 Difficulty in systematic handling of a large quantity of documents. PA0 2 Batch processing is needed for making the content or index. PA0 3 Difficulty in reusing documents in other systems. PA0 4 Dedicated apparatus is needed. PA0 1 Easy systematic handling of a large quantity of documents. PA0 2 A function for making the content or index can be easily incorporated. PA0 3 The source file of documents can be easily reused in other systems. PA0 4 The document can be created with an ordinary text terminal. PA0 1 Difficulty for a nonprofessional due to its form of programming the document. PA0 2 Processed result must be compiled to display it. PA0 3 For creation of a shorter document, it is simpler to use the WYSIWYG.
[Drawbacks]
The other form is a batch system, to which a TEX created by Dr. Kunth in Stanford University, or a roff system developed by the AT/T correspond (see a book by Izumi Kimura: "Document fairing language" (also entitled "Text-Formatting Languages), information processing, p.559 to p.564, June, 1981).
This system is operated in such a way that a source file 51 including instructions for type-setting the document is created with a text editor 52, an intermediate file 53 is created by compiling it for the type-setting 52, and its result is displayed 54 on the screen or printed 55 on the printer, as shown in FIG. 2.
This system has the following features.
[Merits]
[Drawbacks]
As seen from the above comparison, there are respective merits in the document processing system such as the WYSIWYG or batch-type, but it is conceived that the merits of the batch type system, such as a batch processing function for the content or index, or creation of the document in the same page style throughout all pages by introducing a style sheet, are adopted into the WYSIWYG type system. On the other hand, in the batch type system, instead of forcing the user to program the document, a structure editor is provided, so that the user is prompted for the input command with the icon, thereby eliminating the necessity of being thoroughly acquainted with the type-setting commands.
In this way, the recent document type-setting processing exhibits hybrid aspects of the WYSIWYG and batch-type.
Thus, in the document processing system of batch-type, the drawbacks of this system have been significantly overcome, but unresolved problems still remain. In conventional batch systems, the final document image was visualized through a process of displaying or printing after the compilation of a source file, taking a very long turnaround time, so that there was a large dissatisfaction for the user. Also, for the display of text images, their physical images were only shown, but there was no function of clarifying the interconnection of the information. Furthermore, in most cases, the number of display images was fixed, such as one or two, so that it was impossible to see the page layout of more images simultaneously.